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Jensen with about-turn in the perks tax case

Two persons are holding a Shell bonus card. Photo: Shell.com

Siv Jensen with a partial about-turn in the perks tax case

The Ministry of Finance is working on solutions to dispose of large parts of the flight bonus and tax on perks, unnamed sources informs Nettavisen.

During the Norwegian Parliament’s question hour on Wednesday, the Minister of Finance, Siv Jensen (Progress Party), was grilled by the opposition regarding the changes in the regulations for taxation of fringe benefits, such as public transport travel cards and free tickets for employees in bus companies and festivals.

“I believe that it makes sense that the Ministry of Finance reviews these decisions again, fiscal spokesman of the Progress Party in the Parliament, Sivert Bjørnstad,” tells NTB in a text message on Thursday.

“When unintended consequences occur, it is advisable to apply the brakes and evaluate whether the intended result can be achieved more appropriately, for both employers and employees,” he elaborates.

Higher trigger point

Leader of Labour, Jonas Gahr Støre, asked the Minister of Finance whether «the chaos should be resolved or be continued», while both Abid Q. Raja (Liberals) and Leader of the Finance Committee, Henrik Asheim (Conservatives), opposed their own Government and stated that tax changes had to be reviewed once more.

Nettavisen experiences that Jensen opens for a partial about-turn in the matter. Additionally, the Ministry of Finance is working on solutions to change large parts of the tax rules for perks.

The newspaper cannot confirm how this will happen, but one of the alternatives is supposedly to increase the point of entry for the tax – so that fewer people are affected.

Looks at changes to the tax on perks

NTB has been in contact with the Ministry of Finance and Siv Jensen in order to confirm the information. They, on their part, refer to Jensen’s reply to Nettavisen.

“We were given input in the consultation rounds, but in recent weeks there have been many reactions to this. I, Of course, take that seriously. In practice, this means that I now look at whether the changes we have made have consequences that have been unintentional. If that turns out to be the case, I’ll see if there’s anything I can, and should, do about it,” she answers.

The Minister of Finance further emphasises that there is a need to clean up the regulations, and excludes that reversing all the changes is an option.


© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
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